starting problem

[phartuk]

after a downpour of rain my berlingo won,t start, leave it a day or two (as long as it doesn,t rain ) it will start again....help !

[Tomcat3]

It may help if you tell us what make model and engine you have to help diagnose the problem.

[steve valentine]

Wet bsi perhaps.

[phartuk]

It may help if you tell us what make model and engine you have to help diagnose the problem.

2004 2.0 hdi and how does the BSI get wet

[steve valentine]

It may help if you tell us what make model and engine you have to help diagnose the problem.

2004 2.0 hdi and how does the BSI get wet

From the rain?

[Tomcat3]

Usually from poor seal around the windscreen and down onto the bsi/fuss panel to the right of the steering wheel.

[Barkas]

Even if the following is not the cause of the problem, I would still carry out the modification as prudent maintenance. There is a ventilation plenum flooding problem with the Berlingos bulkhead design, its well known throughout the industry, I am new here and its probably been mentioned here before but I will run through my experiences with it regardless.....behind the grill between the 2 wipers, there is a plastic foam splash guard, as rain runs down the windscreen it pours through the grill and across the plastic guard that covers a ventilation gap, the rain runs down this guard, then its diverted out to the plenum chambers drains in each inner wing to the ground at the rear of both front wheels, thats what its supposed to do ..BUT.... the guard is too small for purpose and it is only designed to outlast the 3 year warranty, and after 3 or 4 years the glue holding the guard fails, and the shield curls up at the edges or moves and during a downpour the rain runs past the shield and into the car and lands either side of the centre console, on my car it was dripping onto the BSI and collected in pools causing a host of electrical problems, once dried out all was fine! I also noticed that heavy rain will also get past the guard when the car is parked at a certain angle facing up a steep hill and the rain is driven by a strong head wind directly onto the front of the car
The Fix....Remove your wipers, ( you will need a 2 or 3 legged puller) and the clips holding the grill, remove grill and pull off the existing guard, make a larger guard, I used thick plastic sheet, mastik it well in and seal around the edges , make sure it does not foul the wiper blade shafts/ splines/rods, I used a bitumin black non curing gutter mastik available at Wickes / BnQ.....use a wet finger to shape the mastik into place, use white spirit to tidy the job, while you are in there, clean out all the leaves n gunk in the plenum chambers in the corners of the inner wings, if you dont water floods up over the fireshield panel and pours over the ECU causing an electrical catastrophe.
Flooding in the plenum area causing water ingress is common an a lot of cars, I dealt with a vauxhall on Monday gone with leaves blocking the drains and the floor wells were 2 inches deep in water front and rear, assemble all required materials before dissembling , takes about 2 hours to complete, the wiper arms are handed so mark left n right and watch you dont scratch your wings with your zip or belt buckle as you work. I did mine 4 years ago and its been dry ever since.